Large tires and wheel rims, such as those used on large vehicles and trucks, can be extremely heavy, with an individual wheel weighing as much as 200 to 250 lbs. or more. This large size and weight makes handling large wheels difficult and labor intensive, and presents safety and health risks. For technicians performing various tasks, such as tipping wheels into an upright position, flipping a wheel during service, loading wheels for storage or transport, or even moving a wheel around a workspace, back injuries are common due at least in part to the wheel's high weight and the postures and movements customarily used to manipulate wheels.
Wheel tippers have been used in order to facilitate various tasks which require tipping or flipping a wheel. A wheel tipper is customarily a bar with a gripping end that engages with a wheel so that the wheel tipper can act as a lever when used by a technician. As an example, FIG. 1 illustrates a wheel tipper 10, sold by Bosch Automotive Service Solutions as product no. OTC 5082. The wheel tipper 10 comprises a body 12 that includes a grip end 14, and a hook end 16.
FIGS. 2-4 illustrate an example of a customary use example of the wheel tipper 10 for tipping a wheel 18 into an upright position. Before the wheel 18 is tipped, a tire 20 of the wheel 18 is deflated and a bead 22 of the tire 20 is broken, in order to expose a rim 24 of the wheel 18. FIG. 2 illustrates how the hook end 16 of the wheel tipper 10 is hooked to the rim 24. In FIG. 3, a technician 30, positioned on a side of the wheel 18 opposite from a side where the hook end 16 is hooked to the rim 24, pulls on the grip end 14 of the wheel tipper 10 until the wheel 18 is in an upright position as illustrated in FIG. 4.
It is desirable, for various tasks, to manipulate a wheel without deflating the tire or breaking the bead. However, such tasks cannot be accomplished using a customary wheel tipper, as deflating the tire and breaking the bead are necessary in order to expose the wheel rim to be gripped by the hook end. Further, while a wheel tipper facilitates tasks involving tipping or flipping a wheel, other tasks, such loading wheels for storage or transport, require lifting or manipulating wheels in ways that are not achievable with a wheel tipper. Therefore, what is needed is a device that facilitates different modes of manipulating different types of wheels without damaging the wheel or requiring deflating the tire or breaking the bead.